Issue 01-30-2017

NEW YORK — The National Retail Federation kicked off its recent Big Show conference here with a discussion of the industry’s changing jobs picture, and the launch of an initiative meant to help stores and retailers find and retain the employees they will need to succeed in the future. “The jobs in the retail industry

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Wal­mart is realigning its top management at its Walmart U.S. and Sam’s Club units as the company moves to have several executives oversee both online and in-store operations. Doug McMillon, the company’s president and chief executive officer, said in a memo to employees that the moves were made to help Walmart become

CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Dollar Tree this month announced the appointment of former Walmart executive Duncan Mac Naughton as president and chief operating officer of the company’s Family Dollar chain. He will report to Gary Philbin, who has been promoted to a new role as enterprise president of Dollar Tree. Mac Naughton has more than 30

WASHINGTON — Retail sales in November and December rose 4% from a year earlier to $658.3 billion as consumers spent more freely than expected during the holiday period, according to the National Retail Federation. Non-store sales increased 12.6% to $122.9 billion. NRF’s figures exclude spending on automobiles, gasoline and restaurant meals. “These numbers show that

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — Supervalu Inc. announced January 18 it had hired former Target Corp. executive Anne Dament as senior vice president of retail merchandising and marketing, effective immediately. Dament will lead Supervalu’s retail banner operations and oversee merchandising and marketing. She reports to president and chief executive officer Mark Gross. “I’m thrilled that Anne

CARLISLE, Pa. — Ahold USA announced the appointment of Don Sussman as executive vice president of merchandising, succeeding Andrew Iacobucci. At the time of the January 17 appointment, Sussman was president of the company’s Stop & Shop New York Metro division. Sussman has more than 37 years of retail experience, including leadership roles in marketing

FLORIDA, N.Y. — Brett Wing was named president of ShopRite Supermarkets Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Wakefern Food Corp. and the owner and operator of 34 ShopRite stores in New Jersey and New York. Wing has worked at ShopRite Supermarkets since 2015, when he was hired as executive vice president. With his recent promotion,

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Sears Holdings Corp. this month announced plans to shut 150 stores and sell its Craftsman tools brand, the company’s latest steps to boost liquidity as it struggles to hang on amid declining sales. Sears reported that same-store sales at its chains declined by between 12% and 13% in the first two

STELLARTON, Nova Scotia — Michael Medline has been appointed president and chief executive officer of Canadian supermarket chain Sobeys Inc. and its parent Empire Co. Medline will also serve as a director of Empire, the company announced earlier this month. Medline’s appointment was effective immediately. “Michael Medline is an outstanding Canadian retailer who brings a

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens has announced a long-term alliance with FedEx Corp. to provide drop-off and pickup services at thousands of its drug stores. According to Walgreens and FedEx, a small-scale rollout of the service will begin this spring, with the program to become available at thousands of Walgreens locations later this calendar year. By

WASHINGTON — Costco Whole­sale Corp. has agreed to an $11.75 million settlement with the Department of Justice over claims that it improperly filled prescriptions for controlled ­substances. Also under the agreement, the Drug Enforcement Administration over the next three years can make unannounced and unrestricted inspections of all DEA-registered Costco ­pharmacies. The allegations concerned Costco

Where will mass retailing executives be spending their out-of-office time in 2017? Surprisingly, fewer viable choices are immediately apparent, though the obvious ones — the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the Food Marketing Institute — still stand out. On the face of it, the broad selection of recent years has diminished, in part